Carl Jung once said, “A whole person walks with God and wrestles with the Devil.” On our trip into self-emergence we are asked to discover the holy ground within us, to protect and carry the flame of our unique brilliance. We are also required to meet the places within us that challenge and limit us…our fears, flaws and shadows. We cannot step fully into the light unless and until we are willing to walk into the dark and face what is there. Then and only then we can embrace and integrate the whole, making choices from awareness and surrendering what we must.
Taking this journey is no easy matter and it’s not one that ever truly ends. But it is essential if we are to live our greatest stories and bloom into our greatest, most authentic nature. Real work in personal and spiritual development includes story and shadow work. It guides us both lovingly and fiercely through all the rooms of our own being, turning on the lights so that we may live at home with our soul. Over and over I take this journey myself and so I know it never really ends. There is always more to learn, to bring into awareness, to integrate and transcend. More ways to stretch and grow. Some I resist and so encounter over and over. Some I move through and then reach into higher ground and more complex learnings. Still, evolution never reaches a final destination.
So, is it worth it? Story and shadow work can be painful and difficult. Isn’t “ignorance bliss”? Sometimes, I admit, I think it just might be! But quickly I say…yes, it is worth it. For to live in awareness, awakened to my choices – whatever they may be – and to the role I play in my own life and in the world…is to LIVE, and only with commitment to awareness does the possible expand. To live asleep, in denial or possessed by the Shadow is to never even know what life you have lived.
And to walk with God..that is worth it all. Truth is, we all always walk with God, even in the midst of our trials. But just as potential, possibility and the strength of our flame grows with our awareness, so does the depth and instensity of our communion with the Divine.
First step? Sit quietly. Breathe deep. And speak from your heart to the eternal essence of all that is. You will be heard and your call will be answered. Carve out time each day to sit in communion with yourSelf…to pray, meditate, journal, breathe. Begin with relationship…with Yourself…with God – one will always lead you to the other, deeper and deeper. I promise.
And always, always…reach out and seek the support you need.
Be well. Blessings.
Tracy
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